A Lego train layout and cityscape at the Cincinnati Museum Center has combined local landmarks with superheroes, including Batman and Spiderman.

The Lego train layout and cityscape was built by OKILUG, the Ohio Kentucky Indiana LEGO Users Group. The display is featured as part of the museum’s Holiday Junction, which is also home to the historical Duke Energy Holiday Trains.

The layout measures 12 by 24 feet, or, in Lego terms, 448 by 768 pips and uses 336 base plates, each with 1,024 pips, according to a press release.

O’Donnell has been building with Legos since he was a little kid, and Mollmann said he has been using Legos since before he could talk. O’Donnell focuses on the train and city pieces, while Mollmann’s main priority specifically involves the trains.

Clark said his primary focus within OKILUG is to do historical pieces, such as Music Hall and the Roebling Bridge. The Lego layout features landmarks including the Mainstrasse Village clocktower, Washington Park (1911) and Albee Theater (1927).

“When you look at the city buildings along Washington Park, I’ve recreated the entire landscape on Vine Street from 12th all the way close to Liberty, which is all from the period 1860 to 1905,” Clark said.

O’Donnell described OKILUG as a group of artists.

“We design and build our own little things from our imagination,” he said.

About 95 percent of the parts used in the display are custom, according to O’Donnell, which means they cannot be purchased in most stores and are even rare to find online.

As a group, OKILUG participates in four major shows a year, including BRICKmas at Newport on the Levee and the Kentucky Brick Expo held in the spring.

Superheroes invade Cincy

Clark said one of the of the things you’ll find about hardcore builders is that they like to sneak little Easter eggs into everything that we do. For example, a plumber going into a building that has water running out of it.

“Things that not the average person will see,” he said. “It engages our visitors and lets them participate and try to find all of the nuances and the little small gags that we put into our work.”

O’Donnell said they really enjoy having a little bit of whimsy in it.

“I also feel like the comic book heroes and ‘Star Wars’ characters bring the kids into it, to help them feel a better connection to the display,” he said. “It’s really fun to see Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker going around on the carnival ride.”

An artist’s dream

O’Donnell said the fact that OKILUG’s Lego layout is featured at the museum center is the biggest difference from the group’s previous displays.

“They’ve been nothing but accommodating and friendly toward us,” O’Donnell said. “We’ve really enjoyed being here and being a part of the Holiday Junction. We look forward to doing it for many more years, and also adding some other builds in. ... Bigger and better for next year.”

Clark said every artist desires to have their pieces shown in a venue like the Cincinnati Museum Center.

“This is a world-class facility,” he said. “Especially with the tradition of the Duke Energy trains. For us as builders… This is incredible.”

Childhood memories

O’Donnell is looking forward to bringing his children to the museum, because his grandmother and parents used to bring him to see the trains when he was a kid, before they were called the Duke Energy trains.

“I think it brings back some of that nostalgia that we’ve lost,” O’Donnell said, referring to families going downtown and looking at trains and holiday features through the windows of shops.

O’Donnell is also glad the Cincinnati Museum Center owns the trains now. “They’ve put all the time and effort into taking care of them, so they’ll be here for another generation.”